Shoulder-to-Shoulder: Affirming Positive Masculinities
On 12 June 2025, QCAP research fellow Dr Amanda Dylina Morse partnered with Michael McKenna at YouthAction NI to host Shoulder-to-Shoulder, a seminar on working with young men and affirming positive masculine identities.
The event was attended by a diverse group of youth workers, teachers, therapists, and other who support young men across Northern Ireland.
Shoulder-to-Shoulder began with presentations on best practices for working with young men and an overview of the Andrizo Integrated Conceptual Framework, which Dr Dylina Morse developed during her PhD to understand how gender expectations and adolescence influence the development of suicidal risk in young men.
In the afternoon, YouthAction NI presented their model of practice for supporting young men’s wellbeing and attendees broke into small groups to discuss key areas of work to promote good practice:
- What are the greatest challenges facing youth workers supporting young men?
- What are the most important areas where young men need support?
- What sorts of programmes do young men need to support their mental and physical wellbeing?
- What sorts of supports does your organisation need to be able to offer these?
- What opportunities for collaboration do you see to better support the sector?
The findings from these discussions and a short survey will be compiled into a report with recommendations for youth work and other organisations in the sector to better support their staff and the young men they serve.